|
Tesla was a Sacramento band that started off as a band
named "City Kidd". During the recording of their first album, Tesla
re-named themselves
after the great 19th century inventor Nikola Tesla, who not only
was the man who invented the induction coil which is widely used in radio technology,
but also the same guy who claimed to have made lighting bolts and been in
communication with aliens. These days the name "Tesla" is
probably associated more often with a nearly defunct electric car
company than a heavy metal band from the 1980's.
Coming to their own in an era of big hair and leather
pants, Telsa set themselves apart as "normal" in that their hair wasn't
"big" (just long), they did not wear makeup (at least not on stage), and
their pants were leather (denim, baby). In the early days, Tesla
toured with bands such as Poison, David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, and Def
Leppard. Their 1986 debut
release,
Mechanical Resonance, is one of our favorite
metal albums, and their 1989 follow up,
The Great Radio
Controversy, is also at the top of our list.
Interestingly enough, Tesla considers Psychotic Supper, which was
released in 1991, to be their best work to date. We may not agree
with that, but it is still a great album.
Although their was a brief hiatus for members in the mid
to late 1990's, by 2000, a reunion tour was in the works. New
material soon followed as well as mega rock tours (Shiprocked, Rock
Never Stops, etc.). At the time of this writing, the Tesla
Discography was as follows:1986: Mechanical Resonance
1989: The Great Radio Controversy
1990: Five Man Acoustical Jam
1991: Psychotic Supper
1994: Bust a Nut
1995: Time's Makin' Changes - The Best of Tesla
2001: Replugged Live
2001: 20th Century Masters The Millennium Collection The Best of Tesla
2002: Standing Room Only
2004: Into the Now
2007: Real to Reel
2007: Real to Reel Vol 2
2007: A Peace of Time
2008: Tesla Gold
2008: Forever More
2010: Alive in Europe
2011: Twisted Wires and the Acoustic Sessions |
